Cunningham's strength is that he has very good close control of the ball and good pace. His judgement is at times suspect but he can beat people off the dribble, and general cause a defense to completely break down in the box. He gets a lot of assists turning a defense and then just laying it off to the other forward to hammer home. Hes not a good passer, but that doesnt matter. Not my favorite forward, but you certainly can do much worse than Cunningham. Hes a bit out of character for a German side (saying he is tacticly naive is being kind) but the bigger, slower defenders would have fits trying to mark him. Hes also a bit of a ball hog, once its on his feet its not going to come off unless a goal is immenent or a defender or five is disposessing him. In short if you have a team that has a hard time generating offense, Cunningham is a good player to have. He will generate something out of nothing for you. But if you want a guy to fit in a well oiled offensive machine, stay the heck away.
The last one was PERFECT Cunni. He dribbled, held the ball too long, got tackled and dispossessed, and the ball happened to bounce to one of his teammates who finished. I hope EF players can recieve such lovely "passes".
Bruce- I think you are being overly critical here.. If you have good control (like cunny does) the ball stays near you....yes, occasionally you are going to lose it, but guess what (?)...if you have good control, it will (some odds) bounce the right way to a teammate, etc. Cunny put himself in a dangerous position (by his dribbling- and drew defenders to him, and out of sorts). So the mere fact the Cunny DOESN'T let ball run to far ahead (we all know dribblers like that), ....by virtue, he's going to create some extra "pinballesque" opportunities....sure, they ain't pretty, but they all count... Do you value a beautiful played pass directly on foot of opposing defender....or a nicely played back pass, which keeps possession, but does nothing to penetrate the D......as BETTER plays? You wanna see useless possession at work...pretty passes that go nowhere, and create nothing......I saw DC United plenty this year, and there's your answer right there... You can criticize him when he flat out loses the opportunity and ball goes other way, but let's be careful not to overdo it...bottom line is a score, and it wasn't pure accident..(but due to pressure)
well, I just disagree about his attributes but I wish him the best and hope he makes it and improves a lot.
well, I just disagree about his attributes but I wish him the best and hope he makes it and improves a lot.
I got into an arguement at a party a couple weeks ago with three Frankfurt fans who insisted that he was American and that I was an idiot for not knowing my own countrymen playing in Germany. I instisted that they were idiots for not knowing the nationality of the players on their team. Wen never really got past that impasse. What is his heritage? I thought he was South African, but I've never really cared enough to look into it.
I seem to recall a YA thread about him a while back and the conclusion then was that he was from a mixed English-German marriage (like Earnie, only the pops was from England). Could be wrong naturally.
Yep, Jones is American/German. I belive Jeff C. was used as a winger at Leverkusen and as a result didn't fare very well. Might be wrong about that though...
Cunny's biggest problem is going to be combining his superior talent in dribbling/breaking down defenses (a rare and very valuable skill)....with staying WITHIN whatever tactical system he is faced with. Based on history (and this is not a criticism), there is not going to be a lot of leeway for Cunny to "do his own thing"....that is just BL soccer......so he will have to be the one to adjust...and quickly Talent is not an issue here...nor passing ability...etc....will Cunny be able/willing to play within the system? If so, I think he'll make the team, and even start some (after that, he's gotta put ball in onion bag, or help other to do so....to stay on pitch)
Cunningham playing now Cunningham is actually playing in the friendly vs Arminia Bielefeld right now. Go to this website and a pop-up will let you follow the action. http://www.dsc-arminia-bielefeld.de/ Cunningham is a starter.
My German's getting rusty, but sounds pretty much like a typical Jeff game- he's beating a few guys and getting fouled (one frustrated guy close to a red)- and drawing some free kicks in dangerous positions, he's (likely) been offsites a few times- site mentioned Frankfurt offside a few times, and I can't imagine it WASN'T Jeff, and he has also stumbled in the box on some opportunities... One phrase near halftime sounded harsh "Cunningham not playing soccer (right?)...but may be incident-specific.. Hopefully, this is considered a good showing by/for a newbie, but who knows...bottom line, no goals by Frankfurt in 1st half, so certainly no slam dunk performance by Jeff...a 2nd half goal certainly would be nice Jeff...
Cunny off in the 63rd...nothing noted in 2nd half....again, here's hoping its enough... Site said there was no distinction between Bielefeld and Frankfurt, so Jeff didn't raise the play out there...
Cunningham won’t be signed. From kicker: The test game in Bielefeld hardly featured positive news. At least Coach Reimann was sure “that Jeff Cunningham is a talent, but won’t help us in short terms”. The US national player finished the tryout.
Cunningham needs to go to a less strucutred, more free-flowing league.....my impression of France, for example....but he'd probably be better going to a middle-tier league with the potential of shining (Belgium or Norway etc) vs. one of the best leagues in world (Germany).. don't know, really, why jeff chose Germany.....guess he has contact there, but again, my impression is a rigid system is not a fit for his game...
Is it just me, or does it seem like this fell apart really quickly? I can't imagine he stunk it up THAT badly considering the quality of the guys already on the team. It makes me wonder what sort of contract he was asking for.